Spanish Teachers Among 24 Cut in N. Caldwell

Parents and teachers—wearing red as a sign of solidarity amid proposed personnel cuts and unresolved contract negotiations that have spanned more than three years—filled Grandview School's cafeteria Wednesday night for the Board of Education's presentation and public hearing for the 2010-11 budget.

However, one person was missing from the standing-room only crowd: Superintendent Linda Freda.

"I'm dismayed and shocked that the superintendent of schools is not here tonight to defend and present this budget in light of the fact that 24 staff members are losing their jobs," said Pat Currie, a fifth-grade teacher at Gould School who has been with the district for 16 years.

"I would think she would at least be able to face the community. I'm very disappointed."

According to Victor Hayek, the district's business administrator and board secretary, Freda is away this week on a vacation that was scheduled prior to the date switch for the budget hearing.

With the elimination of state aid, Hayek presented the K-6 district's budget of $10,893,008—95 percent of which will be generated by a $10,214,962 tax levy. 

The budget will maintain class sizes and all programs, but will eliminate a total of 24 positions, including both of the district's Spanish teachers, and will pose a 4 percent tax increase or $192 for the average borough home assessed at $736,800 in 2010, Hayek said.

The board unanimously approved the budget, which is now up for a public vote during the school elections on April 20.

"The decisions that the board made were none that any of us had envisioned," said Hayek, who said more than $1.2 million in reductions were done since the budget process began in December.

"They were tough. The board was forced to make changes that they didn't want to, but we had to. We were able to stay within our goals, keep all of our programs and maintain our class sizes."

According to Hayek, the district went through three reduction phases that resulted in the elimination of 21 of the district's 99 full-time employees—more than 20 percent—as well as three part-time personnel.

The Board of Education overcame a $750,000 deficit by eliminating 14 full-time support positions and an administrative technology position, reducing all technology and hardware purchases, scaling back buildings and grounds projects as well as repairs and equipment purchases. In addition, general line-by-line reductions in spending throughout the budget were also made, Hayek said.

Following Gov. Chris Christie's reduction in state aid, , the district conducted a second phase of cutbacks that included the elimination of one custodian and reducing several teachers to less than full-time status, Hayek said.

But the the district's budget, which exceeded the 4 percent tax cap, was rejected by the county superintendent, Hayek said.

As a result, an additional $414,000 was trimmed from the budget last week that included four teaching positions, two secretaries and two part-time custodians, Hayek said.

"The cuts that were made will not impact your children's day-to-day lives at school," Board President Aggie Doolen said. "The class sizes still remain the same. There will still be five classes per each grade level.

"All of the programs are still intact. No program has been touched. Art class still remains, instrumental still remains, Spanish will just be restructured a little differently—all of your other classes will remain."

However, with the elimination of both Spanish teachers, the district plans to maintain the program by implementing Rosetta Stone language software that will be administered by other teachers.

"The Spanish program is going to be restructured," Doolen said. "It will be taught, as it is in many schools, by the teachers themselves. We're going to incorporate it back into the classrooms through the teachers with a program that we will be purchasing."

The board would not reveal the areas of instruction for the other two full-time teachers who will be eliminated since they have not yet been notified, Doolen said.

However, the board president said these reductions could still be altered.

"Some of the decisions have been made, but the status quo of this is the financial number cannot change," she said. "All of the things that you have to say this evening will be taken into consideration. There could be other changes from this point on. The changes that have been made aren't necessarily set in stone."

Among the suggestions made by the public were generating additional revenue by charging a fee for the use of the district's facilities by youth sports teams or associations, transferring instrumental instruction costs to only the parents whose children participate in the program as well as considering reducing to just one principal to oversee both schools and cutbacks to nurses and librarians instead of the Spanish teachers.

However, Doolen said the district wouldn't eliminate either of the principals due to safety concerns and it's state mandated to have at least one nurse in each school, but the board did consider reductions in the library department.

"We did look at the librarians and we decided to keep that intact for now, because we didn't want to jeopardize any program," she said. "If we took away a librarian or reduced the hours of a librarian, it would be restructuring a program.

"We are trying to maintain all of our programs and small class sizes that the community had requested in a survey that had been taken two years ago."

According to Hayek, 80 percent of the district's budget is devoted to salary and benefits. In addition, the board expects a 33 percent increase in health-care expenses that will cost as much as $29,600 for a traditional family plan next year.

However, the district, which also lost 12 percent of its state aid for this year, has reduced administrative costs by 8.3 percent and operations and maintenance expenses by 12.1 percent, while increasing by 6.1 percent in instruction and program areas, according to Hayek.

There will be an increase of nearly $350,000 to $1,328, 630 budgeted for special education next year due to the district's added need, Doolen said.

Melissa Goldberg, a parent whose son, Cole, was once believed to have had autism, explained the impact the district's special education department has had on her son.

"Putting my faith in these teachers, aides and therapists was a life-changing decision for me, my family and Cole," she said. "The communications this team had with us was flawless. The dedication of this team is always at 100 percent and is beyond impressive. Cole has come full-circle during these two years with the assistance of these teachers, aides and therapists."

Goldberg, who said Cole's developmental pediatrician no longer considers autism to be a concern for her son, also urged the board to reach an agreement with the teachers, who have been without a contract for more than three years.

"I plead to you to reach a fair settlement with the teachers," she said to a firm applause from the crowd.

According to Currie, who is the negotiations chairperson for the teachers association, the teachers—who wore pins Wednesday night that read "No Contract. Still Working. Always Caring"—have continued "business as usual," despite not receiving a raise over the past several years.

Currie said the teachers have accepted the recommendation of a fact-finder, who was hired over the summer. However, the district declined the recommendation, she said.

"He issued a recommendation because he really thought both sides wanted to get this settled. At least one side really does want to get this settled," Currie said. "When he issued his recommendation, the teachers association accepted it outright."

"This is actually a budget presentation," Doolen interjected. "It is not a negotiation."

The board president, however, allowed Currie to continue. 

"I would really like them to come back to the table, so we can talk about all of these ideas that we've had tonight," Currie concluded. "But we can't do anything until they sit across from us at the table."